Sunday, January 15, 2017

I had time today to finish another page for my Ancestors from Winster book. This one is about Henry Fryer my 6x Great Grandfather (son of the subject of yesterdays page) and his wife Ann Twigg.

Henry Fryer was the third child of Thomas Fryer and Jane Woolley. Father Thomas was a master baker, but it appears Henry took up a different trade, as Settlement Examination records in 1778 mention Henry had been an apprentice to Thomas Prime of Birchover for 7 years as a Cordwainer from the age of 12.A Cordwainer was a boot or shoemaker who made new shoes from leather. I suspect we have the correct Henry in these records, as one of Henry's sons - his namesake Henry, born 1790 is listed as a Shoemaker in the 1871 census. If Henry learned his trade in Birchover,which is likely where he met his wife Ann who was born there in 1752, he did return to Winster, as he married Ann Twigg on 10th December 1776 at St Johns church in Winster, and all of his 12 children were born in Winster. In addition, both Henry and his wife Ann are both buried in Winster.

Henry and his wife Ann had a total of 11 children, however they also suffered some incredible sadness. 1794/5 was such a year for them, with the death of 3 children- second son Joseph, and third son Thomas and youngest child Thomas Twigg Fryer (most likely named after his recently deceased older brother) who died as an infant in 1794 and then 3 year old Mary died a few months later in February 1795. What the children died of is unknown, however in other areas of England Typhoid was rampant, and 1794 was noted as being an extremely cold winter, in fact the coldest since records had begun in the mid 1600s.In addition , 11 years earlier it appears Henry and Ann lost a baby daughter Ann who was born in February and was buried on Boxing day of that same year.

Henry died aged 50 in 1807. He is buried in St John the Baptist churchyard Winster. His wife Ann lived another 25 years, dying on 28th May 1832. She was also buried on 31st May at St John the Baptist in Winster.

Saturday, January 14, 2017

I had some time to complete another page for my book which will feature my ancestors who lived in Winster, Derbyshire.
This page focuses on Thomas Fryer , my 7x Great Grandfather. I am quite interested in the fact that he was a Master Baker. I would like to learn a bit more about him and find out where he lived in Winster. I hope when I visit there later this year I can find out some more.

Thomas Fryer was born in Thornton Leicester, according to Settlement examination records dated 1758. In these records Thomas states he is the son of John Fryer and had arrived in Matlock some 20 years earlier and then subsequently moved to Elton which is where John Fryer had died in 1737. The Settlement examinations also stated Thomas, at the time 28 or 29 years old, had married Jane Woolley 9 years earlier. This tallies perfectly with a marriage record from All Saints Church Youlgreave on 20th June 1749.
Also mentioned in the settlement examinations was that Thomas and Jane had 3 children, John, Ann and Henry.
In 1746 Thomas had been bound as an apprentice to Anthony Cooper who was a Baker.
By 1753 Thomas was himself a Master Baker and had indentured apprentices himself, and was still employing apprentices as late as 1777.
Not a lot is known about Thomas Fryer except the information in the Settlement Examination . The district that a person had legal settlement was important, as in the case of need, entitlement to help from the parish went to those who had legal settlement in that district. You could obtain legal settlement if you were born in the district and by several other methods including by being ‘bound an apprentice by indenture’ to a parishioner, no prior notice being needed.
Clearly due to the fact Thomas had both been an indentured apprentice, and then also later become a Master Baker with his own apprentices meant that he and his family would be taken care of by the parish should the need exist.
Records show that Thomas died in 1779 and was buried on July 7th of that year . Jane died 5 years later in 1794 and was buried on April 28th 1784.
Eldest son John was buried in 1768 aged 18, but there appear no records for marriage or death for Ann, Thomas or James . They may have moved away from the district. Son Henry though, stayed in Winster and married Ann Twigg .

This blog is a narrative following my journey into the past through discoveries about my ancestors.

I have discovered many branches of my tree go back to the very beginnings of European settlement in New Zealand and through learning about my forebears I have discovered a new interest in New Zealand history.

Of course like most European New Zealanders my most historic roots are from England, Scotland and Ireland and I hope to learn more about the lives of my ancestors there too.

In the process I hope to find some relatives I never knew about.

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About Me

Now a Cooking Technology Tutor with a love of steam cooking, I had been a Digital Scrapbook Designer since 2001.I was with Digital Scrapbook Place from its inception in April 2004. After its demise I reinvented myself and took my current job which ties in perfectly ith my love of cooking and food in general. I still have a passion for photoshop and design and enjoy photography, entertaining, reading and travel when I can fit it in between work and my family of 5 .My latest addiction is genealogy and Im really enjoying uncovering the stories of my ancestors